Turning the rhino poaching tide with the help of surveillance tech

Rhino sanctuary stays one step ahead with perimeter protection

“Axis Communications is very excited to be part of this journey to preserve our wildlife. We are very committed to this cause and hope our technology can assist in curbing the poaching epidemic that we are dealing with.” Roy Alves – Country Manager at Axis Communications.

Mission

According to data from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission’s African Rhino Specialist Group (AfRSG), incidents of rhino poaching in Africa has increased year-on-year for the last six years. In South Africa alone, a rhino is killed every eight hours, according to Savetherhino.org. Moreover, poachers are embracing sophisticated technology and no longer make use of traditional poaching methods, to increase the efficacy of their illegal and nefarious operations. On the other side of the technology coin though, IUCN states that heightened law enforcement operations boosted by increased use of technology has led to a slow-down in the increase in poaching incidents annually. Consequently, Axis Communications stepped up to play a part in the conservation tale by assisting South African National Parks other organisations in combatting poaching and helping to ensure that all five rhino species thrive in the wild for future generations.

Solution

The first port of call for this assistance was The Rhino Pride Foundation Sanctuary located in Limpopo. The Sanctuary has a large perimeter to secure. The sheer immensity of the perimeter boundary called not only for advanced thermal detection but for an analytic that could act as the first line of defence and give the rangers the ever so crucial early detection system that they need. Furthermore, no infrastructure and network was in place, meaning that Axis had to come up with a design to provide network connectivity by using solar panels. Seven of these solar panels were installed along with three AXIS Q1931 and four AXIS Q1941 Thermal Network Cameras. In addition, AXIS Perimeter Defender, a flexible scalable video analytic application, as well as the company’s AXIS C3003-E Network Horn Speaker were also included in the setup.

Result

The mountainous terrain that borders the reserve no longer poses a threat to the security of the premises. Previously this open area posed a threat and potential risk area for poachers to gain access to the reserve. Thanks to the installation of Axis thermal network cameras and the early triggers from the AXIS Perimeter Defender application, even complete darkness cannot offer poachers a place to hide.